Work underway on Huntly community-owned wind turbine

Huntly and District Development Trust, a charity which aims to improve the social and economic life of the Huntly area, hopes the new turbine will deliver funding for socially useful projects over the next 20 years

Construction work is underway on a community-owned wind turbine project in Huntly, Aberdeenshire.

The Greenmyres Community Wind Project will see a 500kW Enercon wind turbine erected on Greenmyres Farm south of Huntly.

The project is being managed by the Huntly and District Development Trust (HDDT), a subsidiary of Greenmyres Renewable Energy which owns the farmland.

Greenmyres Renewable Energy will also operate the wind turbine.

HDDT acquired the 63-acre farm on behalf of the local community in 2014.

The 500kW wind turbine project, supported by Local Energy Scotland, reached financial close in June.

Development is being funded from a £2 million loan from Clydesdale Bank along with £500,000 from Social Investment Scotland and the Scottish Government’s CARES scheme.

Shares in the project will also be made available in the spring of 2017 to replace bank debt with community investment.

HDDT, a charity which aims to improve the social and economic life of the Huntly area, hopes the new turbine will deliver funding for socially useful projects over the next 20 years.

Richard Hammock, chairman of Greenmyres Renewable Energy, said: “The Greenmyres Community Wind Project has been in process for more than five years now, and it’s fantastic to see construction underway on the farmland the Trust recently acquired for community use.

“The turbine will be a valuable resource for creating clean, green energy, which the local area will benefit from economically, as we look to reinvest profits to good use within the region.”